Grand Avenue Movie Paper
Melissa H….
School of Social Work

SWK 501
Professor Jones
May, 8, 2015

Grand Avenue Movie Paper
Family systems are complex and multifaceted due to the various personalities, presenting issues, dynamics, and outside influences. In the field of social work, the family system will be the backbone of effective intervention as it is the primary agent of socialization that our society is built upon.
The movie Grand Avenue depicts a multi-generational view of Native American families who are struggling to assimilate into American life while maintaining cultural beliefs and traditions. The families of Molly, Steven, and Anna will be explored looking at the different relationships and the stressors each family is faced with, their strengths, and their goals, that they want to accomplish in life.
I will analyze Molly’s family first. Molly has three children; Justine, who is the oldest, Alice and Sheldon who is the youngest. They historically resided on a reservation in New Mexico with her husband Jack. Shortly after Jack passed away, Molly was asked to leave the reservation with her family. Molly returned to her hometown with her cousin Anna, who found Molly an old run down house for the family to rent on Grand Avenue. Grand Avenue is a very rough neighborhood with different races and personalities that in combination with each other result in increased gang activity and violence. It is evident that Molly loves her children, but she does not know how to express the love in a healthy manner. Molly is an alcoholic who struggles with her anger issues. Molly’s relationships with her children vary and it is evident that she does not love them all equally. Molly’s relationship with Justine is strained with Justine often rebelling against Molly. Molly has a good relationship with Alice. She has a lot of respect for Alice because Alice is always respectful, hardworking, and always’ s present for Molly. Sheldon is Molly’s youngest and she tries to protect him since he recently lost his father, which in essence enables his negative behaviors. Molly’s primary stressors are being able to provide for her children, finding them safe housing, and not being able to hold a steady job because of her temper. Molly’s strengths are; the love she has for her children, and the concerns she has for her children’s well- being, Molly appears to be consistent about finding and keeping a job.
Justine is seventeen years old and does not have a strong relationship with her mother. Justine is very disrespectful when talking to her mother and her siblings. Justine is sexually active and does not hesitate to express her sexuality openly. Justine is wild, defiant and uncaring about who she commits herself to. She spends most of her time with the boys on Grand Avenue. One particular good boy, who is interested in Justine, is really Justine’s half-brother Raymond. Neither one of them is aware that that are related. The primary stressors for Justine is witnessing her mom drunk, not having a father figure, neighborhood peer pressure, loss sense of self, and attention seeking behaviors. Justine’s strengths are that she is strong willed, outspoken, people pleasing, independent, and determined.
Molly’s second daughter and middle child Alice, loves her mom dearly and wishes for her mother to be more responsible and loving. Alice is concerned deeply for her sister Justine because of her rebellious behaviors. Alice has a close relationship with her little brother Sheldon and her Aunt Nellie with whom she has had a distant relationship with prior to moving to Grand Avenue. Nellie shows Alice how to make Indian baskets and encourages her to explore her cultural heritage. Alice is the one who holds the family together. Alice’s stressors are her mother’s behavior, viewing Justine living a carefree and exotic life while being the main caregiver of her little brother Sheldon. Alice’s strengths are the ability to care for her family, the mothering role she has for each sibling, although Justine is older, and being the strong one for the family. Sheldon is eight years old; he is very close to Alice although he loves his mother even though she does not spend much time with him. Sheldon is a little confused about being removed from his home after his father passed away.
Anna, Molly’s cousin, is married to Albert and they have a daughter named Jeanne, who is battling malignant cancer. Anna is very close to her daughter as well as Molly. There is a strain on her and Albert’s marriage because of their daughter’s illness. Anna’s primary stressors are, caring for her ill child and trying to help Molly out in her situation. Anna’s strengths are caring for her sick child, taking care of her immediate and extended family and holding on to what little tradition she feels she has left.
Anna’s daughter Jeanne has a close relationship with her mother, Steven and Justine. Anna is beginning to lose hope with life, which she states she is tired of taking chemotherapy and wants to die. The primary stressors for Jeanne are living with cancer and having to face chemotherapy. Jeanne’s strengths are being one who loves, caring, and understanding. Jeanne also tends to give her cousin Justine very valuable advice.
Steven is the husband of Reyna, he is also the father of Justine, but it is unbeknownst to him and Justine. He has a good relationship with his wife and son Raymond. When Steven spots Molly on Grand Avenue he immediately wants to pack up and move but his wife opposes the move because she is pregnant and does not think this is the right thing to do right now. Steven’s primary stressors are Molly living down the street from him and she does not want anything to do with him, not even a conversation. Steven’s strengths are being a family man, caring for his wife and son, and also the love and respect that he has for his aunt/ mother.
Nellie is an older Native American woman who really believes in values and traditions of her native heritage. Nellie is a medicine woman, a gardener who loves to weave baskets. She has strong ties to the burial grounds, and she feels that the dead should be left to rest in peace. Nellie has a close relationship with Steven, Raymond, and Alice. Most people in the community sees Nellie as a witch due to her cultural beliefs, which she just laughs off and refuses to take personally. Nellie’s primary stressor is the people who want to buy the burial grounds.
The family in the film Grand Avenue manifests a multitude of psychosocial issues that are related to their recent move from their reservation in New Mexico following the death of the main character’s husband. First and foremost, the environment the family is living in on Grand Avenue was not healthy or motivating for Molly and her children, due to gang related activities and complications for Justine as well. This results in the first priority for the family being stable housing. Within the family system, Alice embraces a parent role as the mother role for Justine and Sheldon, doing all the cooking and cleaning and making the home consistent since Molly was often leaving to support her alcohol addiction. Molly perceives herself through a negative lens, not employing any positive outlooks on her life due to the fact that she is a single parent with all of her children have different fathers, coupled with the fact that she is an alcoholic. Molly lacks the courage to tell Steven he is Justine’s biological father, is conflicted that Alice has become attached to her Indian aunt Nellie who resides in the neighborhood which complicates her desire to relocate for Justine’s well-being. Molly’s second priority is to stop drinking alcohol so that she can become a more responsible, loving, and caring parent to her children.
Native Americans suffered from the problem of alcoholism since the Europeans came to America. However, they consumed alcohol long before these events. There is numerous evidence to suggest that Native Americans made an alcohol for ritual purposes, however their alcohol was not as strong as the alcohol imported by Europeans.
It is also worth noting that Native tribes used different drugs for spiritual needs. Only some tribes such as “Pima, Papago, Apache, Coahulitec, Yuma, and Pueblo” used fermented alcohol long before Europeans came to America. (Coyhis et al., 2002). In Mexico, Native Americans used teosinte to produce an alcoholic beverage similar to modern beer. In addition, it is well known that the Mexican Indians drank more than forty different alcoholic beverages made from a variety of plant substances, such as honey, palm juice, wild plum, and pineapple. In the Southwest United States, Papago, Apache, and Maricopa used the saguaro cactus to produce wine called haren a pitahaya. .
Firstly, alcoholism was not a huge problem for Native Americans as they consumed alcohol only during meeting with Europeans. However, most of those Europeans were soldiers and traders who drank a lot. Eventually, the Native Americans copied this pattern of drinking and it became widespread.
Alcoholism led to increase of crime rates among Native Americans. Most Native leaders resisted alcoholism by promoting the ideas that alcohol is a “white men’s poison” (Coyhis et al., 2002). Nowadays, there are a lot of Native American movements helping people suffering from alcoholism to recover. Native Americans believe that loss of their culture led to social stress and problem of alcoholism. (Beauvais, 1998). Alcoholism is widespread both among young and adult population. Government should take a closer look at this problem as Europeans who colonized U.S. are partially responsible for this.
The family systems described are varied in their needs, as well as their ability to provide self-care individually, as well as collectively. Molly has utilized alcohol to deal with her grief as the kids have resorted to overachieving, underachieving, and/or assimilating into the gang life that Santa Rosa has offered as an environmental norm. My initial approach, once the above stated goals have been achieved, would be to assess the level of grief that the family is enduring and how each are coping with their grief process. The abrupt relocation of the family soon after the death did not allow for appropriate closure and/or processing for any of the family members. The assessment of the family system appears solid through observation as well as for behaviors that are culturally congruent with the Native American population. Being perceived as an “outsider” to the culture poses an initial hindrance to any assessment that can be completed with the family. The Native American community embraces non-verbal communication as a key form of cultural transmission. Being able to be comfortable with silence as they process their position and determine how they wish to proceed in addressing their concerns will increase the level of trust obtained with the social worker. The ability to connect with the family and align with their goals is paramount to the success of this family system that is coping with deep loss as well as an environmental divide.
The family system is coping with grief that is being exacerbated by alcoholism that was probably present prior to the grief reaction on a smaller scale. The relocation of the family from a familiar cultural respite of the Native American reservation to a gang invested urban location has dramatically impacted their ability to function in what they consider to be a “normal” capacity. Assimilating from their culture of origin to an Americanized culture that is foreign to them is not allowing the family to process their grief in a way that is manageable and healthy.
The family could benefit from collective family counseling to address the transitional issues, as well as their grief, as a family system. Secondly, each of the children would benefit from individual counseling to be able to manage their reaction to the move, adjustment issues, and healthy coping skills despite their gang-ridden environment. And lastly, Molly requires direct substance abuse intervention to address her increase in alcohol consumption to manage her grief in losing her husband. The Native American community is complex and rich with cultural traditions and spiritual beliefs. Their mourning and healing practices are indigenous to their core coupled with their family beliefs that maintain strength and privacy. A disruption of this cultural pattern due to death and relocation can result in a cultural identity crisis, which will directly impact behavioral choices for all involved until resolution is obtained. Grand Avenue is a clear pictorial view of a family system that has been ostracized by their cultural community. The residual impact of alcoholism, sexual promiscuity, fractured family dynamics, and communication issues can be clearly assessed. Intervention with this family system through the lens of their cultural beliefs will allow for resolution, healing, and reunification both culturally, as well as familial success long term.

References:
Beauvais, F. (1998). American Indians and Alcohol. 22(4). Retrieved May 8, 2015, from http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh22-4/253.pdf
Coyhis, D., & White, W. Alcohol Problems in Native America: Changing Paradigms and Clinical Practices.
Fong, R. (2001). Culturally competent practice: Skills, interventions, and evaluations. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Grand Avenue [Motion picture]. (1996). HBO Home Video.